‘Once Upon A Time’ Recap: Emma Makes A Romantic Confession

Plus, Ariel finally makes her ‘Once’ debut! But how does she factor into Regina’s master plan?

The Neverland gang finally tracked down Neal (Michael Raymond-James) on the Nov. 3 episode of Once Upon A Time, but like magic, his rescue came at an unfortunate price. In order to cross the magical bridge to reach Neal’s cage, everyone had to reveal their darkest secrets — and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Charming’s (Josh Dallas) came as a particularly nasty shock to their significant others.

Snow (Ginnifer Goodwin) was furious with Charming when he admitted to lying about the nightshade, though I feel like she was serving up the wrong emotion. Rather than being angry, shouldn’t she have just been sad that he’s now stuck in Neverland? I mean, if this is the last she’ll ever see of him — even though we all know it’s not — she shouldn’t end things on a sour note.

Emma’s confession, of course, was that she kissed Hook (Colin O’Donoghue). She had already told Snow about the little hookup — “I don’t know,” she told her mom. “It’s been a while. I was feeling good. It was just a kiss.” — but confessing it to the group, Neal included, was another matter, especially when Hook revealed his feelings:

“I never thought I’d be capable of letting go of my first love, Mila … until I met you,” he told Emma, sending legions of ‘Captain Swan’ shippers into a friggin’ frenzy. Neal, of course, was as noble as ever, telling Emma, “I’ll never stop fighting for you.”

It was pretty beautiful, and honestly, I’m not sure which Emma coupling I’m rooting for anymore! Help…

Ariel Makes A Splash… In Storybrooke?

This week’s fairytale flashback revealed the untold story of Ariel (JoAnna Garcia) and her romance with Eric (Gil McKinney), arguably the dreamiest Disney prince of all time. In Once‘s version of the story, all mermaids are given legs for a day when the tide is at its highest — and they don’t even have to sacrifice their voices to get ’em!

In this version, Ursula is also a “mythical goddess of the sea,” which Regina used to her advantage. She impersonated Ursula — when she referred to Ariel as “my dear, sweet child,” I nearly pooped myself — and tricked the poor mer-walker into losing her tail forever… and giving it to Snow!

At the last minute, Ariel decided not to be selfish, so she stabbed Regina with a dinglehopper — I mean, fork? — and restored Snow’s legs. But that’s not where our story ends…

Pissed at Ariel for double-crossing her, Regina stole the mermaid’s voice, preventing her from running swimming away with Eric. And Ariel popped up again in present-day Neverland as part of Regina’s big plan. I’m still not sure exactly what she’s got up her sleeve, but knowing Regina, it won’t end well for our little mermaid.

But hey, at least we finally get to see Storybrooke next week! I know I’m not the only one dying to leave Neverland behind forever.

WATCH: Ariel Meets ‘Ursula’ On ‘Once Upon A Time’

HollywoodLifers, did you enjoy Once‘s take on The Little Mermaid? And who do you think Emma should be with: Neal or Hook? Drop a comment with your thoughts below!